1 M y son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

2 T o observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

that thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

3 F or the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil her mouth,

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

4 A nd her latter end bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword mouths.

but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

5 H er feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

6 T he path of life -- lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths -- thou knowest not.

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

7 A nd now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 K eep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

9 L est thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

10 L est strangers be filled thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

11 A nd thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

and thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 A nd hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

13 A nd I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 A s a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 D rink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16 L et thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

17 L et them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.

18 L et thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

20 A nd why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 F or over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22 H is own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

23 H e dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!

He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.